You're emotional response implies that I must have hit a nerve. The truth hurts sometimes.
PT is a valid medical alternative. It is supervised by Physicians known as Physiatrists. It is a very common part of the medical regimen of low back pain.
The kind of kickback scheme you are alleging is HIGHLY illegal. The kind of "referral fees" you refer to are the product of overactive imaginations. State Medical Licensure requires physicians to recognize that kickback schemes are a cause for loss of license. You seem VERY interested in financial issues.
You have a very low opinion of physicians to believe that they would risk loss of licensure to accept such kickback fees, or that they would refer their patients to snake oil salesmen for ANY amount of money.
You're emotional response implies that I must have hit a nerve. The truth hurts sometimes. You give yourself way too much credit. I am not a Chiropractor or in any related field. I just may be a tad frustrated at someone who adamantly refuses to give a shred of credit to, what I view as a reasonable alternative.
As far as Doctors go, I give them far more respect then you give to Chiropractors. BTW, in the Netherlands and possibly other European countries, ones first level of appointment when seeking medical care is with a "Nurse Practitioner" or(though they may term it something else. That person can then make several recomendations, such as:
see a Doctor (GP)
see a Specialist
write simple prescriptions
see a Chirpractor
and other possibilities